Paragon Protocol Arc 8: Raising Hell

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Overview: The party travel into the Astral Sea to the origin point of the River Styx in hopes or remaking its waters in order to restore balance to the planes, and rebind the rampaging goddess, Othea, the Shattered Mountain. Along the way, they will be forced to confront their greatest foes yet, including Gabriel the archangel of truth, Barroth the Unredeemable, the demon lord Ratatrosk, and the true mastermind behind the Infernal Insurrection.

Journey into the Ruby Headwaters

Now with all the runes of the Shattered Mountain in hand, the party had all the tools they needed to recreate the oar of the River Styx. But they still needed divine blood on which to use the oar to restart the Styx itself. The party conjured a plan to forcibly pull Gabriel into a realm where they could battle him away from his armies and use his blood to remake the River Styx. Currently the angel general was continueing his assault on the Hells and was now locked in heated battle against the forces of the red dragon Barroth on the sixth layer of the Hells, Malbolge.

Using the Book of the Dead as their guide, the party traveled into the Astral plane, and to the former origin point of the River Styx, the corpse of Sardior, the Ruby Dragon. Now known as the Ruby Headwaters, this was the secret source of the River Styx's waters before it was forcibly dried up. The primordial dragon's corpse was nearly the size of a continent floating deep in Astral space. Traveling through its shattered chest cavity, the party saw that after the River Styx dried up, monstrous aberrant parasites had begun to feed on the dragon god's corpse. The party traveled into the formerly beating heart of Sardior where the Styx's waters once flowed, only to find it overrun with parasites.

After slaying the parasites within Sardior's heart, the party cast Gate and pulled the archangel Gabriel from Malbolge. Now retched away from his angelic armies, Gabriel was alone, save for his two lieutenants, Aariel Sword of the Solar, and Melody, who were able to travel through the gate to aid their general before the gate closed. But before the gate closed, a fourth creature forced its way in. Angry at the interruption of their battle, the red dragon Barroth forced their way into the Gate, eager to slay Gabriel along with those that sought to steal his prized kill.

Fighting the Truth

The battle was long and brutal. the party could barely compete with the sheer celestial might of the archangel Gabriel, yet they managed to persevere, even as Barroth bathed the Ruby Headwaters in flame. One by one Gabriel's allies were slain until he was the last angel remaining. Seeing no other option, Gabriel revealed his true divine form in an attempt to destroy the party with his radiant light. Resisting the purest light in the universe, the party fought back and at long last managed to defeat and bind Gabriel using the Book of the Damned, his angel body suspended in the air within Sardior's heart.

But that still left the monstrous Barroth. After fighting Gabriel, the party's resources were tapped out and they were at the dragon's mercy. After attempting a valiant but meager resistance, and with the party's cleric Nyrgoth getting transported to Minarous by his patron Mammon, the party agreed to make a deal with Barroth. In exchange for Barroth sparring the party's lives and letting them finish their ritual, the party agreed to send Barroth back to Malbolge and assist in in gaining power within the Hells. In addition, the clockwork sorcerer Aivan was contracted into giving Barroth a free use of the Wish spell in the future. The party reluctantly agreed to the terms of Barroth's contract and sent the red dragon back to Malbolge.

A New Styx

With all the runes of the Shattered Mountain together, and the archangel of truth bound and at their mercy, the party began their ritual. Using the Book of the Dead, the new keeper of the Styx and successor to the ferryman Charon, Aliria Servine drew forth the power from the runes that was imprinted upon them when they were used to first destroy the oar. Pulling together the runes' power, Aliria crafted a new "oar." This time the artifact that would control the River Styx for the rest of its days was a blade of blackest steel and shifting ink called the Sword of Mortem. taking this sword she plunged it into Gabriel's chest and carved a wound from which spilled golden divine blood.

Mixing in her own blood and the ink from the Book of the Damned, Aliria used the Sword of Mortem to transform Gabriel's divine blood. The blood pouring from Gabriel's chest slowly transformed into gray mist that began to sink into the cracks of the Ruby Headwaters, purging it of the parasites that had come to inhabit it and reconsecrating the corpse of Sardior. From there, the mists and the dark waters they came from stretched across the planes, binding together all realms of life and death once more and serving as a nexus for souls passing between the material planes and their destined afterlives. This was no longer the River Styx. Instead, it was the Passage of Souls, or more simply known as the Passage.

But now with the Passage restored, the party had to make a difficult choice: would they reconnect the Abyss to the realms of Quelmar? The party debated many points, some arguing that the Abyss served as a vital focal point of chaos in the realms, and without it, the chaotic energies of the planes would go unchecked. They also argued that there may be countless poor souls trapped in the Abyssal realms, and that cutting off the Abyss again would trap them forever. But in counterpoints, other members of the party argued that demons were a threat to big to be allowed to return, and that leaving them in exile would save thousands of lives. Eventually the party decided to allow the Passage to reconnect the Abyss to Quelmar. Having seen the ruin brought about from its disappearance, the party came to the difficult conclusion that the Abyss in Quelmar was a necessary evil. Now once more demons and mortals alike could travel freely between the planes of Quelmar and the Abyss.

Using the mists of the Passage, Aliria conjured thirteen Styxian Anchors that would need to be embedded into Othea to rebind her within the Passage.

The Battle of Malbolge

To return to the Hells, now that the planes were reconnected by the Passage, Aliria used the Sword of Mortem to conjure her "ferry." While Charon's ferry took the shape of a massive barge made of bones, Aliria's simply took the form of the Obsidian Bridge, a bridge of black stone that stretched into the mist and connected to wherever Aliria needed it to go.

Traversing the bridge, the party arrived atop a cliff overlooking Malbolge which had been consumed by battle. Barroth and his dragon armies clashed with angels in the skies, while devils, holy paladins, and Abishai clashed on the ground. And rising from the horizon was the skeletal silhouette of the Shattered Mountain, breaching through the earth and reaching into the air to break into the 5th layer of the hells, Stygia. Atop the cliff the party ran into Grandmother Theresa and Mackrea of the Cloven Coven who has journeyed to Mabolge to witness what could either be the start of a new world, or the end of the current. At this time Nyr is teleported back to join the party, having had a quick audience with Mammon, who hinted at a scheme that was soon to reach fruition.

The party's druid, Dina, transformed into a powerful earth elemental and created a tunnel beneath the battlefield which allowed the party to safely avoid the chaos of the war above and make it to the Shattered Mountain. But here was where the fight would truly begin. The angry and lost spirits trapped within the Shattered Mountain's body lashed out at the party, resisting their attempts to bind Othea. Among these spirits included Thrya Cloudbreaker and Angrboda, resurected as celestial giant zombies by the ambient magic of the Shattered Mountain.

The party struggled to implant the anchors against the onslaught of spirits, but in their time of strife, allies came to answer the call. Koh Tam, Virgil, and Roberta fought along the party, along with other allies from across the planes, including Aliria's mother Viviria Servine, Aliria's father the Demon Lord Graz'zt, the fallen angel Sarial, the Efreeti caretaker of the Gardens of Pleasure Dalia Embervale, Dina's mother Greenkeeper Garda, the captain of the Red Wake Grinlocke Vorn, the Beast of the Badlands, the former member of the Ordained Stratia Cumulous, and the liberated Aasimar Bella Dawn. As they fight their way up the Shattered Mountain, the party beholds as a massive red star appears in the sky, the Ruby Rod, still unclaimed. But alongside this red star are sudden flashes of celestial light: the remaining archangels, here to avenge Gabriel. But one man will not let this heavenly incursion stand as Asmodeus too arrives to fight back his siblings. While he may not possess the Ruby Rod at this moment, he is still an incredibly powerful archangel at his core. During the fight, Mammon appears before Nyrgoth, who had recently sold his soul to the devil of greed, and frantically has Nyr finalize some important documents. After placing twelve of the thirteen anchors, the party continue to ascend up the titanic skeletal body of Othea to insert the final anchor at her peak, only to be met by Ratatrosk.

After promising himself to the Shattered Mountain, Ratatrosk's delusions had only grown from there. He believed that the chaos and destruction that the Shattered Mountain would wrought would create a world of true equality, where all the oppressors would be destroyed and the small rodents and vermin of the planes would thrive. He called the party out on what he perceived as their own hypocrisy, for they sought to do the same to the Shattered Mountain as did the gods and Asmodeus eons ago. But the party defended their actions, interjecting that Ratatrosk's world would never be able to come to pass, as all the Shattered Mountain would leave would be nothing but ash and dust. Filled with rage, Ratatrosk lunged at the party with his poisoned fang daggers. The party fought desperately to avoid his blades, knowing that even a single scratch from his poisoned diseased daggers would spell certain death. After a quick brawl, the party manages to subdue Ratatrosk, and in a show of mercy, send him back to the Abyss instead of destroying him. As he is sent away, in a last moment of clarity, Ratatrosk thanks the party for being his friends.

Divine Revelations

With Ratatrosk gone, the party's rogue Sylphine embedded the final anchor into the skull of the Shattered Mountain and began the process to seal it away once again. But as she did so, the party was hit by a wave of psychic energy. In that moment, the party saw the life of the Shattered Mountain, Othea, as they were before. How they came to this realm, how they joined the betrayer gods, how they helped shatter Sardior and how they were betrayed. In this moment, Sylphine felt pity for the goddess and so reached deep into the Shattered Mountain's spirit, not for the deity, but for the person deep within, and then saved her. As Othea's spirit was saved and the beast that remained was being sealed away, what was left were the millions of spirits that had latched onto her when she was in the ethereal Plane. These spirits were wild, angry, and lost. Stepping up was Dina, who began to attempt to use their ritual of burial peace, the same one they used on Curia back in Hellmar. But it wasn't enough, until they spotted a shadow in the storm of spirits, the last shade and remnant of their old friend, Balaam. Balaam had been destined to serve as the scapegoat and portal key of the lost spirits, but ever since they had died, that role had been lost as well. With a heavy heart Dina reached out to the last remnant of her friend and took his curse into herself, allowing the souls to be siphoned through her and back into the ethereal plane where they could then filter into their destined afterlives through the Passage.,

As Othea was saved and the spirits were sent away, the secrets of the universe were revealed to the party through the eyes of Othea. They beheld the destruction that had been wrought, the sins committed, the truths revealed. Then before it was over, Othea revealed one last truth to the party, who was behind all of it. The thing that had been summoned by the Ordained that used to be the Shattered Mountain had long since devolve into a mindless beast of pure anger, so who then was the divine voice guiding the giant cultists? Who pushed Dispater to invade the Material Plane which in turn incurred the wrath of Gabriel? Who freed Barroth into the Hells? It takes a moment for the party to realize that the Ruby Rod had disappeared from the skies, and in that moment, they all realize who the true mastermind was. Standing before them, clad in shining opulent robes, holding a rod of pure ruby in his hands, was Mammon, the new Lord of the Ten Hells.

A World Gilded in Gold

It was here Mammon revealed their deceptions in full. Centuries prior, when they were an angel serving beside Asmodeus and Mephistophales, Mammon said that they like all angels were barred from ever being allowed to want anything. As they were angels serving the gods in paradise, what could they ever want that was better then that. But after Mammon journeyed with Asmodeus into the Hells, that small sliver of want blossomed into pure unchecked greed. While on the surface this simply presented itself as a desire for wealth, Mammon always knew that wealth was simply just the stepping stone to get things he actually wanted. And he wanted everything.

Mammon knew that actually trying to take everything for himself would make him lots of enemies and rivals, so he did what no one would expect, he simply played the role of the greedy bastard. he took the role of the avaristic despot always seeking that next payday, and so other devils simply perceived him as only ever focused on short term goals and paid him no mind. As centuries past, many forgot about his history, and as more archdevils made larger power plays, many forgot how powerful Mammon could be, and so many saw him as a weak fool. The perfect cover.

At the same time Mammon was devising his theory on how Quelmar worked as a universe. He believed that Quelmar largely functioned on the Paragon Principle, a phenomena where if a small group of unique and motivated individuals came together, they could achieve anything. He saw this reflected in the stories of the gods during the realm's creation and in the rising heroes of the realm. But it was still theory at this point, and Mammon needed to field test it. Mammon covertly gathered a team of heroes and set them on an impossible quest: kill the wife of Asmodeus, Azhazni. Out of everyone in the Hells, Azhazni was the only one who say through Mammon's facade, and he knew that if he were to ever achieve his goals, she would need to be out of the way. Mammon bestowed the party of heroes with a weapon known as the Vaulkner, a weapon crafted from Asmodeus' former angelic sword cast away when he claimed the Ruby Rod. Using the Vaulkner, the party did the impossible, the killed the devil's bride. And so the Paragon Principle was proven.

Long after this, Mammon would start working with the archangel Gabriel, serving as Gabriel's spy in the Ten Hells. While Mammon feigned that he did this simply for the celestial gold he was paid for his services, this also gave him an in with Mt. Celestia. Mammon would share with Gabriel his theory about the Paragon Principle and together they would create the Paragon Protocol, a system for when Mt. Celestia would use mortal adventurers to achieve what angels couldn't achieve or be seen doing themselves. Both Gabriel and Mammon would make use of the protocol many times throughout the centuries of Quelmar.

As he gathered wealth, Mammon began to make deals to purchase land within the Hells. This was all in a covert move to steal the Ruby Rod. it was written that whoever controlled the rod controlled the Hells, but Mammon surmised that the other way around would be true as well. if you controlled the Hells, or, controlled a 51% ownership stake, you would control the rod. In his efforts to purchase land Mammon was most successful in Duumal, where the archduchess Elytria's desperate need for allies allowed Mammon to manipulate her into selling her parts of her own territory. When the archduchess and daughter of Asmodeus, Glasya, was captured by the Core family, Mammon increased his efforts, only to have to disappear for a time when she returned. After returning from hiding, Mammon knew that there would be to many eyes on him if he kept attempting to quietly purchase land.

And so Mammon would begin setting up the dominos that would cascade into the Infernal Insurrection. First he would need Asmodeus out of the picture, and so he secretly spurred on the small cult of Othea's that had survived these long centuries. Pretending to be their goddess, Mammon taught the greatest of these cultists, the Ordained, how to create runes of power that drew on their goddesses magic. And since the Ruby Rod was made from Othea's heart, and these runes were made of her magic, it allowed them to negate the abilities of anyone who in turn drew power from the rod. He was once again putting the Paragon principle into practice by crafting a team of giant heroes and giving them the proper motivation. Tricking the Ordained into thinking they would be resurrecting their goddess, Mammon pushed the Ordained to work with Ratatrosk, kill Charon, and destroy the River Styx. From there he could be hands off, and all he had to do to further escalate chaos in the Hells was give ample funding to any archdevil or warlord who needed it to make a desperate power grab, and to release the Red Dragon Barroth from his golden vaults. Now all he had to do was watch as the Hells descended into chaos as he bought land on the cheap unnoticed.

But Mammon knew that if this chaos went unchecked, he might not have a Hells to rule when the dust settled. So with a little push, he gave Gabriel the idea to initiate the Paragon Protocol, and gather together the party, this party, the Hellraisers. And they performed greater then he could have ever anticipated.

Things got rocky for him though when they failed to kill Glasya dn retrieve the Hill Rune, as when Glasya claimed the rune herself, since her mother Azhazni was once one of Othea's divine servants, she saw the truth about her mother's murder, and how Mammon orchestrated it. Working together with Dispater and Barroth she captured Mammon and planned to exact her revenge and claim the Hells for herself, but once again the Hellraisers came to save the day and defeated her.

And now in the final moments with Othea being sealed away, Mammon has finalized the last land acquisition he needed to become a 51% owner of the Hells, giving him control of the Ruby Rod. he thanked the party and praised them for their success, offering them great wealth and power as a reward. But the party was instead appalled and horrified by this revelation. They had seen first hand what Mammon's scheme had brought about and the thousands of lives hurt by his actions, and knowing that his desires would never end, knew he had to be stopped.

Mammon was disputant, but ultimately understanding. When you are a great evil and gather a team of heroes, you must be prepared when they turn against you. Once more putting the principle into practices, Mammon created one last team of heroes, a team of himself. Conjuring himself into multiple unique vestiges Mammon battled the party on top of the disintegrating body of the Shattered Mountain. As each vestige was destroyed though, Mammon only seemed to grow stronger, until his vestiges reformed back into the Lord of the Ten, where Mammon unleashed the full powers of the Ruby Rod.

The party was on the brink of death, out of spell slots, low on resources, and facing down a god. But with one precise shot from the bow of Sylphine Nightfall into the Lord of Greed's eye, they managed to disarm Mammon and cut him off from the Ruby Rod's power.

All the Power in the World

And here they were, six heroes, holding the power to reshape the world as they saw fit. But they knew for however much power they used, the rod would enact its toll, and the longer they stayed in possession of it, the more likely they would become a monster as terrible as Mammon. After some discussions, the party determined what they would do with the rod. First, the undid their contract with barroth and used the rod to unmake the red dragon. Then, using the rod's power, the liberated the people of Hellmar and created a new plane of existence for them to inhabit, Newmar. next, they transformed Nyr into a powerful devil who drew magic from the Hells itself rather then from the rod and make him lord of Dis. Then lastly, they destroyed the Rod and all aspects and Ruby Hearts that drew their power from it. Never again would this power born of blood and betrayal be used to cause suffering to the world. And in a flash of red light, the story of their adventure ended.